


My dear dark dove,

by Sharky_Smil3



Series: Soulmate drabbles and shots [1]
Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Canon Divergence, Dragon Ball Series - Freeform, M/M, Soulmate AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-14
Updated: 2019-02-14
Packaged: 2019-10-27 09:52:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17764517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sharky_Smil3/pseuds/Sharky_Smil3
Summary: He won’t admit it to anyone, especially not to himself, that his mother never got around telling him what the nature of the tattoos are. And what little knowledge he has comes from the lonely moments—perhaps for a change in their routine or to simply pass on the knowledge of Saiyans—where Nappa mentions his own soul mate and how they met.





	My dear dark dove,

**Author's Note:**

> Nothing of the Dragon Ball series belongs to me.
> 
> Title by Rosanna Warren.
> 
> Written for the list of soulmate prompts found here: https://imagines-fr-days.tumblr.com/post/174376953425/soulmate-au-prompts
> 
> I believe this is prompt #2 in that list.

Luck. It always comes down to luck.

He’s by Prince Vegeta’s side when they hear the news: a meteor destroyed Planet Vegeta.

“I’ll never be King now,” says Vegeta, and instead of pulverizing the first thing in sight, he opts for taking a savage bite out of the fruit he has in hand.

Raditz remains quiet, raising a quizzical eyebrow when the Prince isn’t looking. Perhaps he is putting a tough front, or he really is just as heartless as he seems to be, because even he...even he can’t help but feel the sting of loss.

Once they settle for the night, Raditz takes it as an opportunity to check something very important. His left inner thigh. The sore feel of overworked muscles accompanies him, for better or for worse.

“Okay...here I go,” he mutters and his breath hitches almost instantly.

He won’t admit it to anyone, especially not to himself, that his mother never got around telling him what the nature of the tattoos are. And what little knowledge he has comes from the lonely moments—perhaps for a change in their routine or to simply pass on the knowledge of Saiyans—where Nappa mentions his own soul mate and how they met. Raditz faintly recalls the mention of a mission, but cannot conjuncture a clear memory. Not when it is now he, who has to resort to speculation for the sake of making sense of the tattoo. A tattoo that is-

There.

In choppy, graphite-like writing the name _Broly_ , remains as clear as day against his tanned skin. A smile tugs at his lips.

His soulmate is probably still alive.

 

***

 

He must have been a fucking saint in his past life, or it was Lady Luck playing her cards on him again. Whatever it was, it doesn’t want him dead yet.

He came to Earth ready to destroy it, to destroy the sole family he had left should he not come back with him. He was ready to stick his foot down his throat... _again_.

But it did not go down like that.

Gohan knocks him unconscious with a powered up attack and when he finally wakes up, he finds himself strapped to a table, with bandages wrapped tightly around his injuries, and the smell of antiseptic and blood overpowering the stench of his own sweat.

His brother is the first one to see him, son in tow. They welcome him and tries to broker a deal: if he promised to not hurt humans or threatened the Earth again, he could stay. His brother must have hit his head harder than he thought, but he complies nonetheless, because even if he comes from a warrior race, fighting is all he has done. Fighting for survival, to appease a tyrant, to— to demonstrate that his life has value. And that, that gets tiring as shit. And yet here, it only took a fight, some more beating, some yelling from his brother’s part, suspicious looks (at worst), to be welcomed by his family.

To this day, he still thanks the brat for knocking him down at that moment.

 

***

 

“Uncle Raditz, where is your soul mate’s name?” Asks Gohan one day when they are both outside under the shade. It’s summer, and the cicadas are buzzing. Earth has so many sounds, and so little space for so many species...yet it all works out.

He’s laying down against the cool grass, a hand covering his eyes and hair sprawled out behind him. The heat causes sweat to roll down his cheek as he sits up to regard his nephew.

“On my thigh, why?”

“It’s just...I never seen it and you have never mentioned your soul mate.”

“Where is yours?” He asks instead. The name is still there, pulsing as his blood runs through his veins. But everyday, little by little he is starting to accept that he will eventually die and never once, have met his soul mate. It is not unheard of either, especially among Saiyans.

“Here,” says Gohan with a smile, showing the underside of his wrist.

_Videl_ , it reads.

Raditz hums in response and closes his eyes, breathes in the smell of grass and apples from the trees nearby. The sway of the trees, the cicadas and the sound of pen against paper, slowly overwhelm his senses. Startled he snaps his eyes open and meets Gohan’s perplexed look.

“Uncle Raditz, why are you-“

“Crying,” he finishes, and raises a hand to wipe away the offending moisture. He can’t lose it now. Notin front of Gohan. But just as he had easily dismissed the thought of his soul mate, his eyes easily dismiss his attempts to keep them dry.

Gohan is quick to stand up and just sit beside his uncle, not really talking or staring at him expectantly. He’s just there, patiently waiting for his uncle to make the first move. And even when Raditz manages to stop the tears from flowing, even when he doesn’t attempt to address the concern, Gohan remains near.

When Raditz does move, it is to grab Gohan’s book and pencil.

“Study brat, your mom will give me an earful if you aren’t done by the time they get back,” he grunts, tossing the book at the surprised boy.

He smiles. “Thank you Uncle Raditz.”

 

***

 

He trains with Piccolo for the most part—thanks to Gohan. At this point they had moved on from the courteous sneering and casual insults to a routine of sarcastic remarks. And when they aren’t training they are just avoiding the other as much as possible— that is until Gohan rolls around.

Piccolo and him are in the middle of a training session when they receive news about the stolen dragon balls. Piccolo doesn’t say much aside from a growl before disappearing. Which leaves Raditz with plenty of time too think, to go or not to go?

Raditz closes his eyes and there is a tug at the back of his mind, a surge of energy from his core shifts up and everything becomes clear. The energy that connects all living life on Earth shows before his closed lids as hues of blue, green and pinks. Quickly he finds the distinctive features of Goku’s and Vegeta’s ki, bright yellows much like all Saiyan’s average ki.

Opening his eyes, Raditz takes off with a power surge and propels himself across the sky. His destination: the Antarctic.

 

He arrives in the middle of Gogeta’s battle against the unknown Saiyan, and Kami are they monsters. Without even trying to search for the Saiyans’ ki, he can tell just how much power is held within. So much that it oozes out of the bodies, destroying everything under their combined weight.

Gogeta is about to obliterate everything, including the mysterious Saiyan, when he stops dead in his tracks. The Saiyan, far too scared of the impending doom, returns to his base form, and with a single ki-charged punch, Gogeta knocks him unconscious.

That’s when they unfuse, and Vegeta is the first one to start yelling.

“What the hell has gotten into you Kakarot? We need to finish him off!”

“Hang on Vegeta,” says Goku as he raises his hands to block off any incoming attacks—a habit he has developed after years of cohabitation with the Saiyan prince, “he is not a bad guy. I can tell.”

“No you dumb-“

“He has Raditz’s name around his throat, Vegeta”

That instantly shuts up Vegeta, who then approaches the unconscious form and-

Surely enough, as he shifts the shock collar up, it clearly says Raditz.

“Fucking great,” mutters Vegeta, withdrawing and looking up as he does when he hears shouting.

“Leave Broly alone!” Shouts a green skin alien, white hair bouncing as she rushes to Broly’s aid. She’s closely followed by an orange alien, who is also readying his weapons as the woman does.

“So his name is Broly huh?” And with a smile, Goku offers the two newcomers a hand, “We are not trying to fight. Seems like Broly is my brother’s soul mate.”

“The fuck?” Asks the woman looking towards her companion for an explanation.

“Lower those damn weapons before I do it for you,” growls out Vegeta threateningly.

“Raditz! Come over here!”

“I’ll go deal with Frieza,” mutters Vegeta, not really wanting to stick around to see his old companion nor his reaction to his newfound soul mate.

“My name is Cheelai, and this is Lemo. We were the ones who found Broly and his father. Then we came here for those so called Dragon Balls,” explains Cheelai, eyes still on the saiyans as she lowers herself to kneel by Broly’s side.

“This is his father’s fault,” she whispers, gloved hands tightening and shaking as she examines Broly’s battered form.

“Broly’s soul mate huh. I had a feeling that’s what that collar was hiding too. Why have it specifically there when it could have perfectly work on his head or arms,” says Lemo, eyes shifting between the Saiyans and Broly. Goku laughs in agreement, scratching the back of his head.

“All right, the hell is going on?”Gruffs out Raditz. Up close, Raditz can clearly see the unknown Saiyan. Dark skin, adorned with scars and scrapes, unkempt black hair and a broad form. Truly the characteristics of a Saiyan.

“Raditz, you won’t believe this but this is Broly!” Chirps Goku, almost too excitedly for Raditz’s liking. His smile drops as Raditz’s face turns white.

“B-Broly?” He whispers in disbelief. His brows furrow as he stares down at the form. He looks up to meet his little brother’s gaze, and that proves to be a mistake. As soon as he looks back down at the unconscious Saiyan, he feels dizzy. The whole world spins for a second and his stomach clenches. _Broly_. The one person he assumed to be dead after so many years, so many deaths and so many close calls.

He still remembers Nappa, telling him that he was still far to young, that he still had a chance to meet his soul mate.But, there is only so much that hope holds for him, and so eventually he lets go of the idea of his soul mate. Along with it dies any thought of them and musings of what they might look like. But now-

Now it is all rushing back. Everything comes crashing down on him, it swirls and makes his throat dry, makes his stomach squeezy, and cold sweat covers his palms. And he doesn’t know whether to blame the spinning surroundings or his shaking, for the sudden vertigo that blackens his vision.

“Fuck,” he heaves, falling to one knee.

“Raditz!”

“I’m fine Kakarot...I just...need a moment.”

 

Once Vegeta returns, they all depart to Bulma’s house. Cheelai and Lemo keep their guard up, and the petite alien remains by Broly’s unconscious form, refusing to leave him at the mercy of their captors.

Which Vegeta finds highly insulting, and he makes it known almost instantly, “He’s a Saiyan warrior and my comrade’s soul mate. We won’t do shit to him, though it is tempting.”

Goku sends a vicious elbow against his ribs, and smiles at the duo apologetically.

“Fucking Kakarot,” is all the warning Goku gets before Vegeta lounges.

And Raditz...is just watching the rise and fall of Broly’s chest. It’s strained, he can tell. The scrapes don’t seem too serious, but a particularly powerful ki blast did leave Broly’s arm limp and bleeding. Lemo is working on stopping some of the bleeding before he can get the proper medical attention.

And strangely enough, Raditz finds this to be the most annoying thing of his day.

 

***

 

Raditz walks into the room—now way he would call it sneaking, this is his soul mate and he has a right to see that he is fine— once he has ensured that Broly’s companions are truly asleep. Exhaustion does wonders to the body and the mind, he thinks with snort.

He comes to sit next to the bed, there is a light stench of blood where it has soaked through the bandages in Broly’s arm. Broly is hooked up to IV bags and other machines that monitor his heart beat and brain waves. Even without one of the apparatus the doctor uses, if he focuses just on breathing, Raditz can heart the faint and firm thumping of Broly’s heart.

Hesitantly, he raises a hand, and gingerly places it atop Broly’s mane of hair. He combs through the tangled locks, stopping his ministrations when he encounters one too many knots. So much for a romantic touch.

“I should change your bandages,” he says softly to no one in particular. He stares for a few more moments and pauses.

“Where is- Ah, under...” carefully he ghosts his hand against Broly’s shock collar, still unsure of whether he wants to see his own name there.

Of all places he could have met his soul mate, this was the last he would have thought of. Earth is still a weird place for him, so fast paced, too full of moving things, colorful and loud. Planet Vegeta barely had the amount of animals Earth had, and less than a third of Earth’s vegetational. Perhaps it is only fitting that they both meet in such a place.

Tentatively, he moves the shock collar slightly not really wanting to see all his name, but that is enough to reveal the whole name. His breath hitches as curved, reddish letters gloss over to spell-

He’s too caught up in the moment to realize that Broly is wide awake, and he is far too distracted to notice that he was touching the tattoo. He can feel it, feels it in his guts and at such unwavering certainty, and so obvious.

He prods a tad bit too hard, because he can instantly feel the pulse against Broly’s neck quicken and,

“That tickles,” comes the whisper.

“S-sorry,” he replies, kicking himself mentally.

“Where am I?”

“You,” a pause, “are safe...” trails Raditz. There is so much he wants to ask, so much he wants to say, but after a fight like that he doubts Broly might believe him.

“Where is-” whatever he was about to say gets cut off by the wrenching sound of coughing. It’s wet and long, and it rattles the dark skin Saiyan. He has to lean on one arm to the side to spit whatever may make his way up his throat. Broly is wheezing by the end of the coughing fit, and Raditz is holding him. Touching Broly’s back and pushing back his messy hair out of the way.

“Your friends are safe. Cheelai and Lemo?”

Broly eyes him quizzically, as he goes back to his original position, he doesn’t respond he just searches Raditz’s eyes for signs of a lie. Raditz looks away when Broly’s gaze doesn’t waver.

“Do you know about the tattoo?” He asks instead, because he wants to get it over with and he wants to gauge whether them being together at all might be possible.

“My soul mate’s name,” is Broly’s bland response. Raditz makes an attempt to touch the name again, only to be stopped by Broly’s broad hand. It rests against his wrist, and it is firm, almost threatening.

“Don’t.”

“Why,” he feels stupid. He finds himself feeling kind of hurt. How can he be butt-hurt over someone, who he barely knows, denying him a touch—a touch that was obviously not asked for.

“That is for my soul mate to touch only,” comes Broly’s response, this time less airy and louder after coughing up phlegm and blood.

A smile, and Raditz opts for brushing his fingers through the dark hair, then down Broly’s face. He rests his hand there,

“Well what do you know? My name is Raditz.”

 

***

 

It is fair to point out that Raditz cannot swallow the amount of embarrassment he gets when Bulma and Cheelai walk-in on Broly checking out the tattoo against Raditz’s thigh.


End file.
